How’s it goin today? Great I trust. So, I’ve recently made a few comments over in the, “General Lucid Discussion” section [ref. Reality Checks and Dream Signs by Rothgar and Questions for the Experienced Lucid Dreamer by Arcadian] about the ineffectiveness of MILD and DILD techniques and how if one is really looking to increase their lucid dream experience beyond just happen circumstance, then practicing a WILD technique is the way to go. I had mentioned that I would post my personal technique as yet another example that one could use to cultivate lucidity within dreams.The whole idea behind any WILD technique is to maintain ones Attention past the point that the physical body sleeps. There are of course many ways to do this and some being more initially effective than others. Ultimately, the effectiveness of any of the WILD techniques is really based upon the strength of ones Intention wielding it. That simply means, that if the idea of dreaming lucidly is treated as a hobby or as a cool novelty, then those will be the results – if one doesn’t give up before hand out of sheer frustration. On the flip side, to be at an, “at-will” level of proficiency in dreaming lucidly, requires a level of Intent that resembles your purpose in life.The methodology I’ll share with you here are those techniques I used to become “at-will” in 7 months, 3, weeks, and 4 days and this was after months of exploring the methodologies of MILD’s and DILD’s. Once my intention to become, at-will, was set, the next thing I did to get there was to let go of the “at-will” idea for the time being and simply focus on becoming absolutely proficient at dream recall. This I determined was the first key to get ahold of. My definition of proficiency meant having the ability to recall 3 plus dreams per night every night to the point without me having to cue myself each night to remember my dreams. I started by constructing a mantra that would help express and strengthen this idea and it goes/went like this, “I am the Dream Master and my dreams are clear and vivid and after every dream, I wake up and recall with clarity and vividness all the happenings within the dream (fore I am the Dream Master) After every dream (at first) I would wake up and write the dream down. After a month and a half or so, I was writing 4 and on occasion, 5 dreams down per night to the point that I was able to track a 90 min sleep cycle +/- 10 minutes by my dream journal. After another month or so, I would simply awake after my dreams and without having to write them down, Recall each dreamscape in sequence from the most recent to the earliest. Further, at this level of dream recall, I was able to able to recall dreams for at least a week after and sometimes longer if it was a particularly intense or unique experience. (This is where the idea of Transference really gets noticed.) If you’re already at this proficiency of dream recall, then fantastic. If not, then some suggestions that’ll help get you there: Forget about lucidity for the moment and just focus your effort on recalling your dreams. If you’re not already, write them down. Throughout the day, recall as much detail as you can – refer back to what you wrote and reconstruct as much as you can. At the same time, you should recite over and over again, day in and day out like the lyrics to that damn song you can’t get out of your head, “I am Master of My Dreams and my dreams are clear and vivid (where ever you are at this point make what ever you can see, touch, smell or taste as clear and as vivid as you can) and after every dream, I wake up (and speak it with conviction) and recall with clarity and vividness all the happenings within the dream. (and actually recall one of your most vivid dreams even if it’s just one small tid bit of a dream, focus on it.) Also, daydream. Daydream something at noon and a couple hours, Recall it.

Next, I separated Sleep Time from Dream Time. I did this by setting up an air mattress and blankets in a spare room where after 6 hours of Sleep Time I would go for Dream Time. The reason behind this is that the Meta aspect of Mind is imprinted with the idea that, the/a, bed means rest and sleep, not focus and attention. When one were to normally go to bed, the auto response mechanism to sleep that the Meta Mind is imprinted with kicks in and poof, off to sleep - and so it should. It shouldn’t be fought with or altered. By setting up another area be it bed, couch, sleeping bag on the floor, or what ever, specifically for Dream Time, you’re effectively beginning to create a new Imprint within the Meta aspect of Mind for a separate experience outside of the Sleep Imprint. Got it? And from a physiological standpoint, your body will have rested enough to where when you do lay back down, you shouldn’t spiral out of control back into sleep. You’ll have much more control. For me, 6 hours of sleep time was perfect, not too tired, not too awake.I set my sleep schedule like this, from the hour I had to be up and awake, (8 a.m.) I counted back 3 hours, which was my Dream Time. From there, (5 a.m.) I counted back 6 hours to 11 p.m. I usually take between 15 and 20 min to pass the sleep threshold, which put me in bed no later than 10:30 so I knew I would get a good 6 hours sleep. At Sleep Time, I’m going to bed not concerned with remembering dreams because it’s imprinted and natural now. I set no alarms and just spontaneously awake on schedule, which was usually shortly after 4:30. After a while, it becomes pretty clock worthy. (You should develop a solid sleep schedule during the cultivation of Dream Recall and note your sleep and awake times. Further, if you currently use an alarm, it’s a crutch so get rid of it. Start to rely on your own internal clock to wake you. Simply Intend yourself to wake 10 minutes prior to the alarm. Intend that you’ll turn the alarm off before it rings. When this happens congratulate yourself and repeat.) At this point now, I’m able to focus on the primary intention of becoming lucid in my dreams, at will. I mean, needless to say, when I got to being able to recall the 3 to 4 dreams per night I thought that was awesome. And it truly is! The quality, the clarity and vividness of most of those dreams were and still are quite something. The excitement level and most importantly, the confidence level goes through the roof and quite literally, propels you into lucidity. So at this point, because of what I do and the fact that I have the software for it, I created another isochronic entrainment recording to help support and strengthen the new imprint of becoming, “at-will.” The mantra is much simpler, “I will hold my attention (for a smooth transition (to be lucid within the dream.) I would also practice strengthening my attention by writing a phrase or my mantra 100 times on a piece of paper making sure it I pushed out any deviation from or intrusion on that one thought. I would also sit out on state land (the woods) and also in the city on a bench with my eyes closed (sunglasses on) on a 45 min. timer. I would pay acute Attention to every sound or smell I became aware of and actually reach out to see if I could ‘see’ it (yeah, you can cheat every now and again) being careful not to construct an image. On the same token, a more difficult practice was to focus on something else, say my mantra, or counting instead of what was going on around me. There were a few others but those were the primary and what I Feel are most effective.Now, when it came to Sleep Time, I let it be just that, Sleep Time. I didn’t try to think of dreams or attention or anything else. Just simply went to sleep happy and excited for Dream Time. After I woke up, I didn’t stay up for too long, just enough for a bathroom break and a drink. When I laid down for Dream Time, I would bring my attention to relaxation and the idea, “I will remain attentive for a smooth transition.” I would remain acutely focused on how the body felt as it was relaxing until I began to see signs of the tunnel. (The Hypnogogic Images – Cool smokey like, colorful swirling images. I would also have the myoclonic jerks or hypnic muscle twitching. These are two way points I looked for to let me know where I was and that helped.) At this point, I began to bring my Attention out of the body and into my head. I did this by bringing my Attention to my toes and every so gently flexing the muscles and I mean barely moving, just enough to feel a bit of tension, and I would “roll” this tension through the feet, to the ankles and calves, to the upper legs and so on till I got into my head. As I was rolling this tension up or lightly flexing every muscle, I literally imagined that the body was fading away behind the roll. By the time I was done, the body felt as if it were just an attached appendage dead weight, which felt that I was completely detached from it. When my attention was fully placed within the head to the point where I lost sensation of the body I would then move on to the next step.Here, I would concentrate my attention a bit further my moving it to my forehead, about where the hairline is. The eyeballs would automatically follow my attention but then, when I held my attention to the area of the hairline, I would split this off and let my eyeballs roll back to a forward or normal position. This took a bit of practice to master. By this time, I was well out of the tunnel and would ‘see’ images, scenes, and would even ‘hear’ my name called or other voices. There are many things I experienced at this point. I tried not to let them distract me. My goal here was to detach my attention from the eyes and to remain in the position around the hairline. When I had achieved this for some moments, I would then ‘visualize’ the body sprawled out in front of me, exactly as I had left it from the vantage point of the hairline. This is where there would be feelings of lightness, subtle vibrations, and in the beginning, angst because I knew, holy shit, this is it! I started with clapping at this point. I would see my outstretched arms lifting from my physical arms coming together and my hands clapping. The more I clapped, the more I could feel it, the more I could hear it, the more it was and at this point the experience became self-evident.It was a good three months or so of this long form practice till eventually it naturally became easier and thus shorter. The transitions were smooth and easy. I later used recalled dreamscapes to transition into and a projection or ‘teleportation’ method I read about instead of clapping although I prefer the clapping method and starting ‘at the body’ because I can then start what ever dreamscape I wish instead of starting in the middle of a dreamscape as with the other two. Sleep is not required to Dream. It is however, a tool, a means of practice to exercise the ability to let go of the physical environment and to transition into the non-physical or what I define as Reality. I know this has been a long post but here’s my last little bit: Don’t Get Greedy! Be Patient. Every moment you practice, you get a bit ‘stronger’ even if you are not immediately aware of it. Try not to jump ahead let the process unfold as a natural ability – it requires no effort. Be attentive not to push faster than you’re able because there is no need to get frustrated. Don’t jump from one method to another. Find one that’s comfortable for you and stick with it. Every time you jump or alter a methodology, you’ve acknowledged the possibility of failure and you effectively start all over again. So again, review your methodology be comfortable with it and stick to it. Understand that in this process, your physical brain is also changing, building the neural pathways to be able to handle the raw energy that is Reality. Liken it to body building. Lets say you start with 20 lbs or kilo to get to 100. The only reason you can’t do 100 right then is because the muscle tissue isn’t there nor are the neural pathways. Time and exercise fueled by intent gets you there.

If you do decide to follow the way I went, I’d love to hear from you either here or via IM.

Thank you TTR. Clear and concise post. I have already, as you suggested, stopped MILD and DILD. They have not worked - at all - in several months. I am concentrating on WILD - it has. I like at lot of your suggestions - I'll be working with them. I'll let you know as time goes by how I am progressing. I already have good dream recall and see hypno images (colors, swirls, "movies" etc.) usually every night prior to sleep and after awakenings. Thanks again -

Thanks for the great post. I agree that WILD works best, with the most consistent results, especially in the early hours of the morning after the main part of the night's sleep is over. I recommend WILD if you want 1 or more LDs a week (I've had 3 in a week) instead of a random one here and there which has been my experience up until recently. I just had a fantastic one this morning using WILD, actually it's the only method where my lucid dreams were when I wanted and not random events. I also like the idea of a separate area to sleep in for dreaming although my bed is the most comfortable place in the house and I'm kind of spoiled so I'm not sure I will do it, but it's a great idea.

Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world? Morpheus